


I'm No Hero

by LIngall



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Angst, Bratva Oliver Queen, F/M, Humor, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-11-30 03:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11455275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LIngall/pseuds/LIngall
Summary: One wrong turn and Felicity finds herself in a very wrong place at a very wrong time. A mysterious man in green comes to her rescue. (What would have happened if Felicity had been around to help Oliver and the Bratva retrieve those critical files off their bullet-riddled laptop?)





	1. The Right Direction Might Be Just One Wrong Turn Away

**Author's Note:**

> Very nervous about attempting anything vaguely AU, or with multiple chapters. Trying to stretch a bit for this month’s Camp Nanowrimo. This is my take on an earlier alternate meeting of Oliver and Felicity, before he returns to Lian Yu to be rescued. Felicity is in Russia attending a conference and Oliver is patrolling the streets with his bow and arrow. Words in [Italics and brackets] are meant to be said in Russian.

<============>

It was cold. The sun had long gone to rest. Felicity pulled her wool coat more tightly around her neck and adjusted her scarf that had come loose during the last gust of wind that whipped past her as she walked along the sidewalk.

She looked up and realized that she was not quite sure where she was, _“What was I thinking? Walking back to the hotel seemed like a good idea."_ Nothing looked familiar in the shroud of darkness.

 _“Okay, ask for directions, or maybe I should call another taxi?”_ she thought.

Felicity noticed a couple up ahead, huddled together in an alcove.

“Excuse me,” said Felicity.

The man turned to her and said, _[“What do you want?”]_

“Oh you don’t speak English, do you?”

The man stepped out of the alcove, leaving his companion behind and said, “ah, an American, yes, I speak English.”

“Thank God. Can you help me? I'm looking for my hotel, it's the Marriott, frak I don’t remember the street.”

“Don’t worry, I will take you back there,” added the tall man. He stepped into her personal space and slung his arm loosely around Felicity’s shoulder, “Come with me, it is only a short walk from here.”

_[“Dimitri, where you going. I won’t wait for you,” called his companion.]_

_[“Don’t wait up, I plan on taking my time with this one.”]_

“I’m getting a bad feeling about this.” 

“What my sweet, why do you have a bad feeling?”

“Han Solo, one of my favorite lines from Star Wars, have you seen it?"

“Da, Yes. Han Solo, good with a gun yes, and with the ladies,” he smiled and pulled her even closer with his arm.

None of the buildings or street signs looked familiar. The further they walked, the more nervous Felicity became. The more nervous she became the more she talked.

“I thought you said it wasn’t far. I really need to get back to my hotel. It’s the last day of the conference tomorrow, lots of interesting speakers and they’re drawing for the door prizes. I’ve got my eye on a tablet computer - I know it’s a knock off but it looks a lot like an iPad 3. It probably has Windows 8, you know the jury is still out on that operating system.”

"Will you just be quiet for a minute. Do you always talk this much.” as he grabbed her by the arm and pushed her against a nearby wall.

“Yes, I always talk this much.” 

Felicity looked around, hoping to attract the attention of someone passing by that might come to her aid or at least distract the big lug that was looming over her. Was that a person on the roof of the building across the way? 

“Did you see that? I could have sworn I saw a person running across that roof,” as she pointed to the building across the road.

Dimitri turned to look at the building across the street and her eyes followed, but whatever she saw was gone. His brief movement gave her room to move and she inched away slowly hoping he wouldn’t notice. 

_“Darn heels, I don’t think I can make a run for it.”_

Before she knew it he had turned back to face her and quickly sidestepped to block her from moving any further away. “No one is there my sweet. But perhaps I can find a better way to keep you quiet.” 

Felicity grimaced and attempted to twist away from his approaching lips. 

_“It’s now or never,”_ she thought and she lifted her foot and brought her stiletto heel firmly down into the center of his shoe.

_[“Dammit, that hurt. I was going to be nice, but maybe you like it rough.”]_

As he scowled at her she saw another opening and gave him a swift kick in the shin. He moaned and then she finished up with a knee to his crotch. 

He staggered. Felicity took a step back and silently willed him to leave her and move on to a more willing romantic partner.

_‘Thwack’_

“What was that?”

Dimitri’s eyes glassed over and he began to sway. 

"I must have really hurt him.”

She looked around to find the source of the strange sound she had just heard, and then without warning, Dimitri fell face-first into the pavement revealing an arrow stuck in the middle of his back.

Felicity’s hand flew to her mouth, “Oh my God, is that an arrow?”

“Yes, it is. Are you alright?” 

She lifted her eyes to see a man in a dark green hood who was carrying a bow. 

“Well, that explains the arrow. Why did you shoot him with an arrow?” Felicity exclaimed.

“It looked to me like you weren’t interested in his advances, was I wrong? Did I shoot your boyfriend?”

“No, no, no so NOT my boyfriend. I got a bit turned around and he offered to walk me back to my hotel,” making air quotes as she said ‘offered’. “By the time I realized he was looking to buy something I wasn’t selling, it was too late.”

With obvious practiced skill the man in the hood lifted the man's feet and proceeded to drag him out of sight into the alleyway. Felicity was still in shock at the whole situation. She leaned back against the brick wall behind her, “the adrenaline must be wearing off, I’m cold.”

“Or it could be shock. I’m going to call my friend, he’ll come and pick you up and take you to your hotel. Where are you staying?”

“The Marriott, but I don’t remember the street.”

The guy with the hood pulled out a phone and began to converse in Russian with whoever was on the other end of the line. 

“My friend Anatoly will be here shortly. Promise me you won’t go out walking alone again.”

“I promise. Thank you again. I feel like I should know the name of my hero.”

“I’m no hero.” 

“But you...” Her words were cut off by the arrival of a large black sedan with tinted windows. A short man in a heavy overcoat exited the car and came around to open the passenger side door. 

“Miss,” he said as he held open the car door.

As she stepped toward the car she turned back to the man in green who was already fading into the shadows of the alley, “Thank you again, if I can ever return the favor, let me know. You can look me up in Starling City USA. We’ll I can’t really help fend off anyone that is attacking you. More of work with my fingers kinda gal. Uh, I mean, I could help, with my computer skills. In some way that didn’t involve hitting anyone. Well, thanks again.”

She could have sworn she saw the green archer crack a smile, “You're welcome. Stay safe.”

Felicity eased into the front seat of the car and Anatoly shut the door behind her.

_[“She’s an American. What is she doing out here alone at this time of night. How did you find her?”]_

_[“She wasn’t alone, that was the problem. Thanks for taking her back to her hotel. As you can see I’m not dressed to do that right now.”]_

_[“Oliver, I know you helped out this girl, but remember what I said. You cannot separate a part of yourself as this ‘hood guy’?”]_

“Anatoly, I’ll see you later,” and he stepped back into the shadows and watched the car pull away.

“So Miss, how are you enjoying your visit to my beautiful country?”

“It was going great until I met up with tall, dark and grabby. I’ve hadn't left the hotel until this evening. I'm attending a conference. Not much time for sightseeing other than my walk back from the restaurant this evening, which will definitely not be the highlight of my trip.”

“Well, perhaps you will come back another time, Miss,” Anatoly paused.

“Felicity, Felicity Smoak.”

“Pleased to meet you, Fel-i-ci-ty.”

As they pulled up to a stoplight Felicity noticed a laptop computer sitting next to her on the front seat of the car.

She picked up the device and turned it over in her hands, “Oh you poor baby, what did they do to you?”

“Poor baby?” questioned Anatoly.

“It pains me to see technology, hurt. Did YOU do this?”

“No, it was unavoidable. But as you can see, it is no good to us now. We wanted to pull some files from this laptop, but now that is not possible.”

“Would you like me to take a look at it? I might be able to recover some of the data.”

“Really?”

"I'm your girl. Well not YOUR girl. I'm your data retrieval girl." 

Anatoly chuckled, "Da, yes, Miss Felicity, you will be our data retrieval girl." 

They arrived at her hotel and Felicity got out of the car, “Thanks again Anatoly. I’ll let you know if I can salvage anything from the laptop.”

Anatoly reached in his pocket and pulled out a business card. “Call me when you are finished Miss Felicity. I will come to pick it up. Call anytime.”

“Goodnight.”

“Dobroy nochi, goodnight, Miss Felicity.”

She entered her hotel with a spring in her step excited to dive into her new project. Felicity ran her fingers over the top of the laptop, dipping into each indentation. “You are a mystery, just like your owner. I hate mysteries. They need to be solved.”

The business card only contained a name and phone number, “Well, Mr Knyazev, let’s see what your laptop has to say shall we.”


	2. Not So Safe - Not So Sound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver is not very pleased when he finds out that Anatoly had given the laptop to Felicity in hopes of retrieving the lost data. How can he keep her safe when she is poking around in Bratva business?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone that left a comment on the last chapter. I really appreciate your positive thoughts. I hope you like this update, and that the characters continue to be realistic. I didn't mean to end with a cliffhanger, but it was the best place to stop so I could get this posted in a timely manner (before the next hiatus prompt is out). Again, I just edit these myself so I'm bound to miss a grammar error or typo - please let me know if you spot one.

<============>

“How could you do that? What were you thinking Anatoly?” said Oliver, banging his hand on the top of the bar.

“Oliver, I don’t see what is the problem. She said she could get data off the laptop. What have we got to lose?”

“What have WE got to lose, you should be saying what does SHE have to lose. I was trying to protect her and once she is safe you go and involve her in something that is very dangerous.”

“Not to worry, Oliver. She probably will find that the data cannot be found and that will be that. And here I thought you would be happy to let the monster out to play, take out a bad guy and save a pretty girl.”

“Anatoly. You know I am serious about this right. This is the only way to protect my family once I go home. That part of me needs to be separate if I’m going to live with myself.”

“But she was pretty, da.”

Oliver smiled, “Yes, she was pretty, and funny too.”

“Ah, see I knew you were happy about saving her. Let’s toast to the pretty girl saved by Kapot.” 

Oliver smiled as Anatoly refilled their glasses and they toasted to the pretty girl and her rescue. 

After a many more rounds Oliver was feeling warm and fuzzy around the edges. _“What am I doing, getting drunk is not very safe around here. Wait safe, the pretty girl isn’t safe anymore because of me, I need to do something to save her. I’ll get the laptop back”_

“I’m going to go get the laptop back from her, the pretty girl, what was her name?”

Anatoly’s head was resting on the bar. He looked up at Oliver, “What do you mean, get it back?”

“Tell me her name Anatoly, so I can go and get the laptop back so I can protect her,” he whined.

“Tomorrow Oliver. It is now too late. If you still want to go and get it back, wait until tomorrow, I’ll tell you her name then.”

“To tomorrow,” said Oliver as he clinked Anatoly’s glass and downed the rest of his drink. 

They both rose from their seat and left the bar arm in arm.

<============>

Felicity surveyed the desk in her hotel room looking for the screw that had just popped loose as she removed the keyboard of the laptop computer.

“There you are,” as she scooped up the tiny screw and dropped it into the pile of miscellaneous parts next to the deconstructed laptop.

She had tried one cable after another to find a match for the odd looking port on the side of the laptop. “Frak, none of these work.” She was interrupted by her buzzing phone.

“Felicity Smoak.”

_“Hey Felicity, this is Karen you asked me to call when it was time to head down for the reception.”_

“Wow, I really lost track of time, should I meet you downstairs?”

_“Sounds good. I’ll meet you in the lobby in 10 minutes.”_

“See you then.”

 _“Should I leave this here or take it with me? Maybe someone would have an adapter that will fit,"_ but as she glanced at her phone to look at the time she thought, _"never mind, I don’t have time to put it back together. It will have to wait.”_

Felicity quickly changed, grabbed her conference badge, and key and headed out of her room down the hall to the elevator. 

<============>

After much cajoling, Oliver was able to get the girl's name out of Anatoly. _"Felicity Smoak. That's an unusual name, it will be much easier to track her down,"_ he thought as he climbed the steps into the hotel.

First he checked out the event screen and spotted the conference she was probably attending. The 5th Annual Eurasian Cyber Security Conference was holding a closing reception in the Minsk ballroom. Just outside the ballroom door was an easel announcing the reception. Oliver's eyes traveled down the sign gathering additional information that might help him. His breath caught in his throat and he reached the sponsors section of the placard. _'Platinum Sponsor: Queen Consolidated – Russian Division'_.

He gently ran his fingers over the words on the sign as if he were tracing a name on a gravestone. _“Dad, I remember when you used to make trips to all the international subsidiaries. I wonder if you ever attended this conference?”_

An excited group of conference goers were approaching the ballroom entrance. It was time to disappear. He couldn’t risk bumping into Ms. Smoak before he could retrieve the laptop.

Oliver made his way back to the entry and took a position behind a group of fake ficus trees that separated the entrance to the ballroom from bar. As if fate was on his side, in the next moment the doors of the elevator chimed and opened. 

And there she was, Felicity Smoak. She stepped out of the elevator and appeared to be waving in his direction. _“Did she see me?”_ Oliver took a step further into the greenery to keep out of sight. 

“Hey Felicity, so glad you decided to join me. How was your day?”, said Karen.

“Great Karen, I’ve been working on a project but I'm having some trouble with." She could have sworn that she heard a sound behind Karen, but then it was gone. Felicity continued, “finding an adapter. I’m trying to pull some data off a damaged laptop.”

“Well that laptop isn't going anywhere. It's time to let your hair down and mingle. Let’s go get a drink.”

“Lead the way.”

Oliver let out the breath he was holding, _“good, she’s out of her room, I can just get the laptop and be out of her room in no time."_

He glanced over at the registration desk, eyeing the two women who were working behind the counter. One appeared middle-aged, she probably would not be helpful. But the other looked to be quite young. Young he could work with.

Oliver had a way of attracting attention. The other older woman at the counter turned to her partner and said, _[“I'm heading out. He’s all yours Viktoriya, but watch out, he looks like trouble to me."]_

_[“He’s exactly the trouble I’m looking for, I get off in 20 minutes, I’m sure I can convince him to buy me a drink. Wish me luck!”]_

_[“Good luck,”]_ and she left the younger woman alone at the counter and entered the doorway to the back office.

“Dobryy vecher Miss, I was hoping you could help me with a small problem,” Oliver said putting on his best ‘Ollie Queen’ smile. 

“I would be happy to assist you Sir, what room are you staying in so I can pull up your account?” she purred.

Glancing at her name tag, Oliver continued, “Viktoriya, I feel so silly even asking, but I’ve misplaced my key, I was hoping you could get me another. I’ll bring it right back once I get mine out of my room.”

“What is the name on the room or the number Sir?”

“Sir, that makes me feel so old. I’m Tommy by the way, great to meet you," as Oliver extended his hand to the woman, holding it a bit longer than necessary for a simple handshake. "The room’s under my colleague’s name, Felicity Smoak, we’re here for the cyber security conference. I was in such a rush to get to the reception that I left my key in the room. I'm sure you can help me, can't you, Viktoriya.”

Viktoriya's smile drooped at the mention of a woman’s name, but she continued and entered the name at her terminal to pull up the room information.

“I only see one room under that name, are you staying together?” she asked.

“Oh no, no. We’re not together.” The young attendant’s full wattage smile quickly returned. “We had a share the room at the last minute, so do you think you can get me an extra key so I don’t miss out on another moment of the reception’s program.”

“What other name should I check?”

“Viktoriya,” he whispered as he leaned over the counter, “I hoped that you do me this one little favor, but I completely understand. There must be a mistake, I’ll go and find my colleague.”

“Thank you again, Viktoriya it was such a pleasure to meet you. How late are you working this evening?” as he reached out to grasp her hand again and brought it to his lips for a quick kiss, “What was the room number?”

Viktoriya blushed, “642”

Oliver's smile widened, “I hope to see you later.”

“Good evening, Mr, …”

“Merlyn, Tommy Merlyn.”

"Mr Merlyn, I get off at 10 pm," answered the woman with a hopeful look in her eyes, "I hope to see you later too."

Oliver headed down the hallway next to the reception desk and went directly to pick up a house phone.

_[“Maintenance department please”]_

_[“This is the maintenance department, how may we help you?”]_

_[“Can you send someone up to Room 642 immediately, my toilet is overflowing. I’m leaving the room until this is fixed.]_

_[We’ll be right up Sir. Our apologies for the inconvenience.]_

Oliver hung up the phone and quickly made his way to the elevators. When he reached the sixth floor it only took a moment to locate her room. He was in luck. Felicity Smoak's room was right around the corner from a laundry room, which was unlocked. He waited patiently in the side hall for the ding of the elevator. He heard the footsteps and jingling of keys. Maintenance was quick. He saw a young stocky man pass his hiding spot and stop at room 642. 

The young maintenance man was only allowed to slide his master key into the lock. Before he could turn the key, Oliver had rounded the corner and grabbed him from behind, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck. It didn’t take long for the man to lose consciousness and slump in his arms. Oliver pulled him into the open laundry room and laid him down on the floor. Oliver reached under his chin and the young man awoke, wide-eyed and startled. Again, Oliver did not hesitate and clocked him with a right hook. He was out cold. Oliver locked the laundry room door from the inside and left the young man to sleep it off.

Oliver returned to room 642, turned the key in the lock and opened the door. He pocketed the key ring and shut the door behind him. Like a homing beacon to a long long lost treasure, the laptop was illuminated by the only light in the room on top of the desk.

He grabbed the laptop from the desk and tucked it under his arm. He was just about to leave the room when he heard voices in the hallway.

“Goodnight Karen. Thanks again for talking me into going to the reception. It was fun. If I had stayed in I wouldn't have met Bob and his adapter collection. I think the one he gave me just might work. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Oliver froze as the doorknob turned and Felicity entered her room. She flicked on the light and looked up at him.

“Who are you and what the heck are you doing in my room?"

Oliver remained frozen in place. Felicity spied the laptop under his arm.

"What are you doing with that laptop?”


	3. I’d Recognize that Profile Anywhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being caught red-handed with the laptop, Oliver is persuaded by Felicity to let her retrieve the data off the laptop. Oliver’s lackluster spy skills lay out a trail of breadcrumbs for Felicity to follow. Too bad for Oliver that the trail leads right back to him and his Bratva friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t remember how Felicity connected the bullet-riddled laptop in 1x03 - but I would assume she just needed to connect it to an alternative monitor to allow her to view and copy the files. (Suspend disbelief if you work in IT). I’ve also taken some liberties with the flashback sequences so it can work within my story. Always good to have an excuse to re-watch Arrow episodes for research. Once again the words in [italics] are meant to be in Russian.

<============>

Oliver thought, _“What is wrong with me, just push past her and be done with it.”_

He moved a step closer and grabbed her forearm spinning her out of his path. Felicity was having none of this. She attempted to pull her arm away from his grasp but he was too strong.

“Again, who are you and what do you think you are doing with this laptop?”

“You should be afraid of me,” he growled.

“Tsk, if you’d planned to kill me I bet I’d probably already be dead. Especially with those big guns of yours,” as she inadvertently slid her hand up his forearm to his feel his bicep.

“Let go. I’m leaving with this laptop, whether you like it or not,” releasing her arm and sliding past her toward the door. 

“I promised someone I’d try to get files off that laptop, and now I can since I found the right adapter cable. Well I told him I’d try, but I know that there is no try only do. Get it, Yoda, no try, only do.”

Oliver halted at the door. _“What am I thinking, just leave. But maybe she can get the files we need to incriminate Gregor.”_

“You must not be a Star Wars fan.”

Oliver let out a chuckle at her babble. He turned and walked back into the room, “Against my better judgement I’ll give you ten minutes. If you can’t get the files off the computer within that time I’m leaving, with the laptop. Got it.”

“Got it, um. Are you a friend of Anatoly’s? You don’t seem Russian?”

“Yes, I’m a friend of Anatoly’s. No, not Russian. I’m visiting, we’re working on a project together,” Oliver trailed off catching himself from saying too much.

“He sent me to pick up the laptop from you.”

“I thought I was supposed to call once I had the data. Why should I believe you? Should I trust you? No, I should probably call the hotel’s security.”

Oliver reached out to put his hand on her shoulder, “You can trust me. Don’t call security.”

Oddly his answer satisfied Felicity and she took the battered laptop and sat down at the cluttered desk to work. She powered up her own laptop and connected it to the other damaged device using the new adapter cable she had procured at the reception from her friend Ken. 

“Have a seat. Shouldn’t take long. What type of files are you looking for, documents, spreadsheets, images, videos? Wait, I will NOT be recovering lost porn videos. You can just download them again.”

Oliver snickered, _“When is the last time I laughed this much.”_

“I promise Felicity, no porn, just some spreadsheets, financial data.”

“Wait, I didn’t tell you my name.”

“Remember, I'm Anatoly’s friend. He told me,” said Oliver. 

“Okay, Anatoly’s friend, I think I’ve got your files right here.”

Oliver took a step forward to look at the screen of the second laptop. What a miracle, it looked like all the files detailing the transactions between Gregor and Constantine were all there.

“You recovered them. Remarkable. Thank you Felicity.”

“Easy-peasy. So if those are the files, I’ll just copy them onto a thumb drive and you can be on your way. I’ll even let you take the laptop without a fight. Why are these files so important? I assume that you know how important it is to back up your computer regularly so you don’t lose data.”

“Not my computer. We need the information on some financial transactions.”

“Oh. How did it get damaged again, because it looks like someone was using it for target practice.”

“That is a very long story for another time. Thank you again for your help Felicity. I know that Anatoly will be grateful. I’ll be going now.”

Anxious to leave, Oliver headed to the door. He was ready to sever any connection between them. It was the only way to keep her safe. 

“Wait, you didn’t tell me your name.”

Oliver turned to answer her, “It’s Tommy.”

“Tommy, it was nice to meet you. Tell Anatoly that I was happy to help with the files.”

“I will, goodnight Felicity and have a safe trip home to Starling City.”

<============>

Felicity tossed and turned all night. Her dreams were filled with visions of a man in a faded green hood dropping bodies with arrows. She awoke with a start, grabbing her glasses off the bedside table to see that the clock read 8:47 AM. 

“Ugh. It’s so late, why do I feel so groggy?” 

She reluctantly pulled herself from the comfy bed and stumbled into the bathroom to take a shower. Felicity was only slightly more awake after her shower. She needed coffee and headed down to the lobby in search of much needed caffeine and food.

<============>

With her coffee and muffin in hand, Felicity headed to the reception desk. 

“Good morning, Viktoriya. I’d like to see if I can get a late checkout, my flight doesn’t leave until this evening.”

“What is your room number please?”

“642.”

“Yes, Ms. Smoak. Of course, I’ve set up late checkout. Please be out of the room by 2 pm.”

“Thank you Viktoriya.”

“Oh Ms Smoak. Did your colleague find you last evening? He said that he had lost his key to your room.”

“Colleague. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have anyone staying in my room with me.”

 _[“I knew it, he wouldn’t be sleeping with this woman. What a stupid ass, he could have been with me last night,”]_ Viktoriya muttered.

“Did you catch the guy’s name?”

“Tommy. Tommy Merlyn. He said you were both attending the cyber security conference. He was obviously just, how do you American’s say it, just kidding.”

“Yes, you're right he was probably just kidding. Thanks again for taking care of the late checkout for me, Viktoriya.”

 _“Tommy Merlyn. That must of been how he found my room, but how did he get in. Why does that name sound so familiar?”_ Felicity thought as you boarded the elevator to return to her room.

Once back in her room Felicity quickly packed up her belongings and next moved to clear her work space. When all of her computer related paraphernalia was neatly packed into its bag she sat down at the table and opened her laptop.

_“Okay Tommy Merlyn. Let’s see if I can find out who you are.”_

Her google search came up with millions of results for Tommy Merlyn. She clicked on the images tab and found picture after picture of a dark haired man staring back at her. The pictures looked nothing like the man that had appeared in her room to take back the bullet-riddled laptop.

She continued to scroll, hoping to find an image of her hooded hero. And then she saw it. She clicked on a video of a young man who was obviously drunk, his arm around draped over a nondescript blonde. Following close behind looked to be the actual Tommy Merlyn, based on her internet image search. 

Felicity paused and rewound the video a few times. The man that saved her on the dark street and who she gave the data files was Oliver Queen. The Oliver Queen that was long presumed dead in a boating accident. 

_“Oliver Queen, what are you doing in Russia?”_

She quickly opened another browser window and logged in to check her upcoming flight. 

_“The advantages of business class travel!”_

“I’d like to reschedule my flight please,” said Felicity as the customer service agent answered her call.

With her laptop stowed and her bags packed she pulled out the now infamous business card from her wallet and placed a call to Anatoly Knyazev.

“Anatoly, hi, this is Felicity Smoak.”

<============>

Oliver approached their base of operations and heard laughter spilling out into the street. Why did he hear a woman laughing? Who was there? He stepped into the bar to see Felicity and Anatoly clinking their shot glasses in a toast.

“Prochnost,” said Anatoly.

“Proshnowst," added Felicity, “I’m going to need some lessons in Russian.”

“Anatoly, what is SHE doing here?” Oliver growled. 

Felicity hopped off the bar stool and moved to stand between Oliver and Anatoly. “I can explain. I missed a few files in the data transfer last evening. I called Anatoly to let him know and he offered to pick me up so I could bring him the rest of the files. He was happy to get them, we were just toasting to our success.”

“Kapot, good to see you, join us for a drink. Felicity was just about to tell me about her work at Queen Consolidated,” said Anatoly, adding an exaggerated wink in Oliver’s direction.

“I’m sure that Felicity should be leaving to fly back to America. And we need to have a discussion about that delivery that we need to pick up.”

Anatoly’s phone buzzed and he moved to the back of the room to take a call.

“Why are you here Felicity?”

“I have some very important questions for you and Anatoly was the only way to find you. And I may have told him a teeny tiny fib that I missed a few files when I was copying them to the flash drive.” 

“No question is that important to call him and come HERE. Didn’t you learn your lesson about going places where you don’t belong?”

Anatoly moved his phone down and called out to Oliver, _[“We have to information on the delivery.”]_

 _[“Are the men ready? I need to get my bow. I’ll be over-watch,”]_ said Oliver.

“You know I don’t speak Russian, but it sounds like you might need some help there Tommy,” said Felicity.

Anatoly and Oliver turned to her and answered in unison, “Da, yes,” and “NO.”

Felicity was confused, “So is that a yes you need some help or a no you don’t?”

_[“Anatoly, are you crazy, she needs to leave now. You’ve got the files.”]_

_[“Oliver, perhaps she can help, she’ll stay here, and someone can stay behind to watch her, maybe Leonid.”]_

Oliver and Anatoly continued to argue, quite loudly. Felicity just ignored them and began to look around the bar. She stepped through an opening covered by a heavy curtain.

“Well, while they are thinking about it I mind as well take a look at their setup.”

The room looked to be primarily for storage, but she spied some electronics on a bench toward the back of the space. She sat down at the bench and opened her bag. Felicity reached in to pull out a jewelry organizer filled with tools and unrolled it on the table.

 _“Have tools will travel,”_ she thought. 

She called into the other room, “Anatoly, your tech falls into the ‘oldie but goodie’ category, but I can work with it. I’ll just need a few minutes to get up to speed.”

The curtain parted and Anatoly and Oliver entered.

“Excellent, Felicity you are now my favorite American!” answered Anatoly.

Oliver stormed over to Felicity, “I need to talk with you, NOW.”

“Yes, Tommy. Tommy Merlyn, of course we can talk. Your dear friend Viktoriya at the hotel’s reception desk gave me your full name,” using air quotes as she said his obviously fictitious alias.

“I knew you looked familiar, that profile is hard to forget, whether it is under a hood or in a dimly lit room, you're Oliver Queen.”

“Here’s a tip for you. Don’t use the name of your best friend for an alias. It didn’t take me long to see your picture come up along with his when I did a search for Tommy Merlyn. I could help you clean up your online presence. Way too many videos of you in unflattering situations. Ugh, sorry to ramble."

Felicity continued, her voice soft and low, "Oliver, your family thinks you’re dead. What haven't you contacted them? Why haven’t you gone home?”

“My family is better off without me in their lives.”

“How can you say that? Your family would want you to come home, regardless of whether or not you think they are better off without you. Why would you think that? Your Mother has a right to know that her son is alive and well.”

“Don’t presume to know who I am. I already told you, I’m no hero.”

Oliver leaned in closer, invading her personal space, “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. You need to leave now, forget what you’ve seen, forget who I am, and GO HOME.”

Felicity moved past him to stand, “Anatoly asked me to help and you KNOW I keep my promises. I will leave when this project of yours if finished. We are not done talking about this Oliver. Besides, I’ve rescheduled my flight until tomorrow and I checked out of my hotel. You are stuck with me. You are not the boss of me.”

Sensing the growing tension, Anatoly pulled Oliver away from Felicity and said, _[“Oliver, let her help. We are shorthanded as it is. We are running out of time to catch the delivery.”]_

Oliver frowned, sensing defeat.

“Okay Felicity, since we’re down a few men, you can stay and help from here. Leonid here can stay with you to keep you safe and translate any communications.” 

Felicity noticed a young man in the corner, who was obviously Leonid, visibly gulp.

Felicity added, “Don’t worry about him Leonid, he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

 _[“Easy for you to say, you haven’t seen him snap somebody’s neck,”]_ answered the young man.

“What did he say?”

Through gritted teeth Oliver said, “He said he’d be happy to stay here to protect you and help with communications, didn’t you Leonid.”

“Da, yes, of course, Captain.”

“Captain, wow, you guys are awfully official, you have ranks and everything.”

“Felicity, promise me that you will not leave this building until we get back.”

“I promise. But only because you asked nicely.”

Oliver nodded, but said nothing as he exited into a back hallway.

Before long Felicity had tweaked all of the gear and handed out the communications links to all the men, including Oliver who had just returned to the room dressed in his green hooded outfit. 

The group left through the back entrance leaving Felicity and Leonid to the listen to blend of their chatter and static over the speakers.

"And now, I guess we wait," said Felicity, settling into the chair in front of the communications equipment.

_["It's going to be a long night. I hope she doesn't do anything stupid or get hurt. Oliver will kill me."]_

"Cheer up there Leonid, it'll be fun."


	4. Promises, Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of their failed mission, Felicity steps in provide Oliver and the Bratva with some well needed tech support. Oliver is grateful for her help, but is still not ready to make any promises about heading back home. This story comes to an end, but another chapter begins back in Starling City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s finished! I’ve had great fun 'chatting’ with these characters and envisioning a world where they first met in a different time and place. I only hope that I’ve done the characters justice. Kudos to my oldest daughter for talking me into signing up for Camp NaNoWriMo - having a goal and a deadline is a true motivator! Thanks to everyone for reading. Special <3 to those of you who subscribed, or left kudos or comments - you are awesome! As a reminder, ["text"] is meant to be in Russian.

<============>

Silence, so much silence, _“Did they turn off their com units?”_ thought Felicity. She turned up the volume to her headphones, straining to hear anything at all from Oliver, Anatoly or the others.

All Felicity could hear was the crackle of background noise; no voices, no chatter. It was unnerving.

Then in the next moment a **pop-pop-pop** came through loud and clear. Felicity scrambled to turn the volume back down to normal. “Was that gunfire?”

“Da, yes,” answered Leonid. “I expect that Kovar knew they were coming.”

“That can’t be good. Why don’t I hear any of them talking?”

_[“That’s a stupid question. They’re not talking because they are trying to dodge the bullets.”]_

“Still don’t speak Russian Leonid.”

Felicity longed for the silence. Her ears were filled with shouts and groans, all in Russian. She closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to segregate the sounds. _“Can I hear one good sound?”_ she thought. Next she hears the sound of a bullet ricocheting off something metal. The loud ping was followed by a hissing sound, then by a disgusting gurgle sound. Someone was gasping for breath.

Leonid was frowning and shaking his head.

“I’m guessing it is not going very well,” Felicity added.

“Nyet. No. I think they are outnumbered.”

“Are you wishing you were there to help them instead of here babysitting me?”

_[“Not really, I’d rather be alive here than bleeding out in the streets.”]_

“You’re really giving me a complex. Do you purposefully switch to Russian when you don’t want to answer me?”

_[“Yes Miss, that is exactly what I am doing! You’re pretty sharp after all.”]_

There was more shouting, more Russian that she couldn’t understand, sprinkled with occasional profanity in English. _“Well, maybe that means Oliver is still alive.”_

“Where were they going again, was it far? Do you think they’ll be back soon?”

 **Boom** , a loud explosion, followed by a second even louder one.

“Okay, explosions, also not very good. What do you think is exploding?”

“Do you always ask so many questions?”

_[“Leonid, we’re coming back, Anatoly is hurt, two others are dead. Get out the medical supplies. We’re 10 minutes out.”]_

“They are coming back, stay here, I need to get medical supplies.”

Felicity nodded and continued to listen to the men chatter over the comms.

A short time later the group returned. Anatoly was leaning on Oliver as he entered the bar and collapsed with a thud into one of the soft chairs at the edge of the room. 

_[“Get over here now, he’s bleeding,”]_ Oliver called out. Hearing Oliver’s voice Felicity moved toward the curtained doorway. Before she could exit Oliver pulled the curtain to enter the backroom.

“Felicity, stay in here.”

“Do you need any help? It sounded like things didn’t go very well.”

“What exactly did you hear?”

“Gunshots, explosions, yelling. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“We did, but Kovar must have known we were coming,” as he dropped the volume of his voice and stepped closer to Felicity.

“Who’s Kovar?” Felicity asked.

“Not important. The important thing is that someone here tipped him off. I don’t know who it is. We were looking for a weapon in the shipyard. We found one, sarin gas. We found a truck loaded with gas canisters.”

“Sarin gas,” Felicity gasped. “That’s deadly.”

“Very deadly. Kovar is planning to overthrow the Russian government, and obviously killing a lot of people in the process.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No, I don’t think so. Unless you know where they were taking the truckload of poisonous gas.”

Felicity grinned and moved over to her bag to pull out her tablet and computer.

“Cameras. The shipyard probably has surveillance cameras. I can check traffic cameras too. If I get desperate, I’ll hack a satellite feed. The US government has got to be spying on Russia, 24/7. I’ll have a list of possible locations for you.”

“You can hack into a satellite?”

“Hacking. Such an ugly word, probably better to say I’m just borrowing a data feed or two. Between all those possible sources I can track the truck as it left the shipyard. Can you give me the approximate location and the time?”

Oliver marveled as Felicity worked between the tablet and computer. She was in the zone so he decided to go check on Anatoly. As Oliver entered the bar area he saw that Anatoly was still sitting in the same chair that he had fallen into on their arrival. His leg was propped up and wrapped in a bandage. He was holding an ice pack on his head.

“How do you feel?”

“I’ve been worse, you know that. We’re lucky to be alive with that gas.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop the truck.” He stepped closed to Anatoly and whispered. “They knew we'd be there. We have a mole.”

“No Oliver, they were probably just coming to move the truck, it was just bad luck.”

Felicity poked her head through the curtain and said, “Oliver, I’ve got something, can you come take a look?”

“I’ll be right back Anatoly, just rest.”

“Look here, there is the truck leaving the shipyard, and then I picked it up on these two traffic cameras. Pretty sure it is the same truck. It all triangulates with the satellite image. Looking at this map, the truck is somewhere within this area in red.”

“That’s a five block area.”

“I know, that was the best I could do.”

“You narrowed it to five blocks within the whole city. Felicity, you're remarkable. We would have never been able to track the truck. I’ll talk with Anatoly and we can send out some men to case that area.”

Felicity went back to work, tinkering a bit more with the communications gear and repairing a few of the links that were damaged during the shootout.

“Where did you learn how to do all of this?” Oliver asked.

“Oh, you’re back. My Dad taught me, I built my first computer when I was seven years old.”

“Seven. Isn’t that pretty young to do that kind of thing?”

“No, not really, it was just my thing. What was your thing when you were seven?”

“Sports, baseball, football.”

“Yup, no sports for me, I’m quite the klutz, but that is another story for another day. Oliver, I’m afraid to ask but what are you going to do when you find the truck with the poisonous gas. Shouldn’t you call the police?”

“Felicity, please don’t ask me any more questions. The less you know the better.”

“Okay, I’ll stop asking questions, because you asked so nicely,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you.”

“When is your flight?”

“At 10 am tomorrow, well, 10 am today, wow it is really late - I mean really early.”

“Why don’t you catch a few hours of sleep? I know it's not much, but there is a cot in the room through that door. I’ll wake you around 7 and I’ll drive you to the airport.”

“You know I can call a cab right.”

“Humor me Felicity, it's been a long night, please rest,” as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Felicity rose from the chair and turned to look back at Oliver and said, “but we’ll talk some more, in the morning, on the way to the airport, okay?”

“Sure Felicity.”

“And one more thing. I’ll need coffee. Please tell me you guys have coffee here.”

“I’ll work on it Felicity. Goodnight.”

<============>

Morning arrived and Felicity awoke to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

There was a firm knock on the door. “Felicity. Are you up. I’ve got coffee.”

“I’m up. Coffee sounds great. I’ll be out in a minute.” Felicity quickly pulled her hair back into its ponytail and put on her glasses. Following the coffee aroma, she opened the door with her rolling suitcase in tow and headed to the bar at the front of the building.

Oliver handed her a mug of coffee. “Where is everyone Oliver?”

“They all went home or somewhere else to sleep til this evening. We’ll regroup later on today. Anatoly told me to wish you a safe journey.”

“How is he doing?”

“He’s really lucky. Just a bit banged up.”

“Good to hear. So Oliver. I know you don’t want to hear this but why won’t you consider going back home.”

“Felicity...”

“No, hear me out.”

Oliver stilled as Felicity continued, “I know you’re worried about going home to your family. But that’s the thing about family. They love you and would rather have you back in their lives, regardless of who you think you’ve become in these last five years. I know the situation you're in feels impossible to navigate right now, but promise me you’ll at least consider going home, that you’ll think about it.”

“It’s complicated Felicity. First off, how am I going to explain why I haven’t come home in these past five years?”

“You’ll figure something out.”

“How can you know that Felicity.”

“Have some faith in yourself. Anatoly and those men have faith in you. They trusted you to watch over them last night. You’re worthy of that faith, worthy of their trust. And I’ve said before, you are a hero Oliver. You saved me, you saved Anatoly and probably a few others last night. Can you promise me that you’ll think about going home?”

“Yes, I can Felicity. But can you make me a promise too?”

“Of course.”

“Promise me that you’ll forget about what you’ve seen here the past few days, the guy with the hood, the bow and arrow, the bullet riddled laptop, the guns, the explosions, and the poisonous gas.”

“Well gee Oliver, you just **reminded me** about everything that happened,” grinned Felicity.

Oliver couldn’t help but smile too. “I promise Oliver. I’ll keep your secrets.”

“Good. Now, let’s get you to the airport and on your way back to Starling City.”

<============>

**_A Few Months Later - Starling City_ **

The words came across her TV screen - _Lost Billionaire Found_.

_“Oliver Queen is alive. The Starling City resident was found by fisherman in the North China Sea five days ago, five years after he was missing and presumed dead…”_

“Presumed, but not actually dead. Good for you Oliver. Your family will be so glad that you’re coming home. And don’t worry, I keep my promises, which includes keeping your secrets. But how the heck did you end up on an island off the coast of China? I hate mysteries, they have to be solved, and you Oliver Queen are huge mystery I can’t wait to unwrap.”

“Well, not that I’d mind unwrapping you,” Felicity laughed as she realized her innuendo. She turned off the TV and went off to bed.

<============>

“Felicity Smoak, Hi I’m Oliver Queen. I’m having some trouble with my computer and they told me that you were the person to come and see. If there is anything you can salvage...”

“I’ll see what I can do, but no promises. Good to see you keep your promises too Oliver. Welcome home. By the way, love the new haircut. Now let’s take a look at this poor baby.”

“Poor baby?”

“Oliver, what did you do? This one looks worse off than the last one. Are you sure you didn’t use it for target practice?”

Oliver could only smile and take a seat next to Felicity to watch as she set to work. How long had it been since they were in Russia? He had missed her. She was right, it was good to be home. Now he just had to make sure she didn’t get wrapped up in the dangerous world that had followed him back to Starling.

 _“Easier said than done,”_ thought Oliver.

“Who’s Warren Patel?”


End file.
